University of Colorado officials say an investigative panel authorized Friday will have the power to examine more than just recruiting practices, and could look into how coaches and police handled the initial allegations of a 2001 sex assault.
University regents passed a tightly worded resolution Friday authorizing an investigation of the use of sex and alcohol in the football recruiting process. A panel, still to be named, will be chaired by former state legislators Joyce Lawrence and Peggy Lamm, who were recommended by university President Betsy Hoffman.
The other members are likely to include “a lawyer, a victim’s advocate, possibly a parent and experts in sexual assault and recruiting,” Lawrence said.
The committee has until April 30 to complete the investigation–a timeline that critics called too short to get to the bottom of the complex scandal. The early deadline will allow legislators to pass new laws this spring if necessary before the mandated end of the legislative session, Lawrence said.
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A police investigation of a raucous, sex-filled December 2001 party, in which recruits and players are alleged to have raped university women, was badly compromised, campus police said, after a Boulder police liaison tipped coaches and players to the investigation.
The university has been caught in a firestorm since depositions surfaced last week about that off-campus party in Boulder attended by football players and recruits. Three women who say they were raped at or right after the party sued the school, saying it fostered a hostile environment for women.
Boulder District Attorney Mary Keenan declined to file rape charges but said in a deposition leaked to reporters she believed sex was used to lure recruits and that athletics officials had ignored her demands to crack down.